A Virtual Network Function (VNF) is the core part of an NFV system. Each VNF includes a plurality of VNF components (VNFC), and the VNFCs communicate with each other through an internal virtual network. Because the VNFCs in the VNF communicate through a virtual network, identity authentication needs to be performed when communication is initially established between two VNFCs, so as to prevent security risks such as information leakage, impersonation during communication, and tampering of communication content.
In the prior art, usually a trusted identity credential is manually configured on each VNFC, and when communication is initially established between two VNFCs, identity authentication is performed based on the trusted identity credentials that are configured manually. However, because a VNF in an NFV system changes dynamically, the solution of manually configuring trusted identity credentials is inefficient and cannot adapt to the dynamically changing VNF.